Page 83 of Hard Corps (Selected Sinners MC 7)

“Axton, my two o’clock,” Toad said.

I glanced over my shoulder to see what he was shouting about. A car slowly pulled into the parking lot. I turned around and shifted my eyes back to Toad, who was looking behind me and now clearly appeared to be concerned.

I’d seen the look a thousand times. Something was wrong, and when something was wrong with one of my Marines, something was wrong with me. With the car being the only thing I knew of that was behind me, and Toad’s eyes widening, I glanced over my shoulder again.

“Axton, behind you,” I heard Toad shout.

The driver of the car was no other than the one piece of shit in my life I allowed to walk away. The man who attempted to rob us before Shane’s title fight. The man who I kicked in the head.

And he was pointing a pistol out the window of the car.

Fuck.

I should have killed your sorry ass.

“Remember me, Motherfucker?” he asked.

The barrel of his pistol was pointed directly at my chest, and there was no time to react. I tensed my muscles and prepared to be shot once again.

But this time at point blank range.

At the same instant the sound of the weapon firing filled the air, Toad jumped between me and the car.

The shock of the bullet impacting my body never came. As the car sped away, Toad fell into me, and slowly began to collapse to the ground.

No.

No.

No!

Immediately, I reverted back to my training, and became the commander of my men.

“Dekk, get a plate number of that car, move!” I screamed as I fought to prevent Toad’s body from falling to the pavement.

“Ripp! Run that motherfucker down and yank his ass out of that fucking car!” I screamed.

I glanced at my watch and quickly shifted my eyes toward the men. Dekk ran toward the speeding car, and Ripp hopped on his motorcycle. As the car sped toward the on ramp, I saw Ripp’s motorcycle shoot across the lot, over the curb and through an adjacent yard, and onto the ramp behind the shooter’s car.

Get him, Brother Ripp.

I shifted my eyes to Sergeant Todelli.

He was losing blood with each beat of his heart.

A tourniquet was impossible.

“Corpsman!” I screamed.

I shook my head as I realized I had no support and I wasn’t at war. “Call a fucking ambulance!”

I slapped the palm of my hand against Todelli’s face as I lowered him to the ground. “God damn it, Sergeant, hold on.”

His eyes opened and closed repeatedly. If an ambulance didn’t show up within minutes, I was going to have a dead Marine on my hands.

Your will, not mine, Lord.

But we both know who that bullet was meant for.